


Second Chances

by Aidaran, StarTravel



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Contemporary AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Growing Up, High School, Human Spike (BtVS), Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 07, Rebirth, Reboot, Reincarnation, Slaying, getting back memories, getting powers back, no Angel season 5, powers that be - Freeform, scrap comic season 8
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23497303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aidaran/pseuds/Aidaran, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarTravel/pseuds/StarTravel
Summary: 20 years ago, everybody but Giles and Angel died during the final battle at the Hellmouth, gulped by the sinking city. Now, 14 years old Buffy starts having dreams about a previous life in which she slayed demons and vampires. And why Will, the librarian's son, keeps appearing in her dreams as a vampire called Spike?Meanwhile, something dark is lurking and trying to get out of hell, the Watchers council has a new idea for a new generation of slayers, Dru wants her Spike back, and Angel has done a deal to get them all back to life...-----Buffy looks around and all she sees is graves, cold slabs of grey rising up from the ground. It feels as if she had seen this a thousand times already, even though she’s positive she’s never been to a graveyard at night before. And then something comes out of the ground, a crack in the soil where a head pops out. She should be terrified, but all she feels is calm. Buffy looks at her hand and finds herself holding a stake as if it was in its natural spot. She feels a grim sense of determination go through her. She knows this. She knows how to use it, how to fight, how to...
Relationships: Drusilla & Spike (BtVS), Spike/Buffy Summers, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Our first (and extremely long!) Buffy story! we have 36 drafted chapters and at least 45 planned, but probably this will span over 60 chapters and... around 120k words, if our estimate is right. After months of writing and rewriting, and trying all sorts of ideas until we got to this final form, we're finally ready to publish it, and we hope you'll love it as much as we're loving writing it!
> 
> We took Buffy's canon as much as possible, as well as certain other things that seemed quite fitting into this universe (you'll see what we have planned for Will... you'll see...)

Buffy looks around and all she sees is graves, cold slabs of grey rising up from the ground. Everything has a strangely muted quality, as though all the color has been slightly drained from the world around her. It feels as if she had seen this a thousand times already, even though she’s positive she’s never been to a graveyard at night before. And then something comes out of the ground, a crack in the soil where a  _ head _ pops out. She should be terrified, but all she feels is calm. Buffy looks at her hand and finds herself holding a stake as if it was in its natural spot. She feels a grim sense of determination go through her. She knows this. She knows how to use it, how to fight, how to... 

Buffy wakes up with a scream. For the third time that week.

Joyce rushes in with her robe already wrapped around her, eyes tired as she sits on the edge of her bed. She grimaces with a pinched expression, taking in Buffy’s terrified eyes and shaking hands. She softly runs a hand through her hair, trying to calm her down. It feels as if something was repeating itself, but she can’t quite put her finger on what. Buffy looks up at her, swallowing a few times as she feels the tears start to slide down her face. “You’re having those dreams again, aren’t you?”

She nods, throat sore and suddenly feeling so small. She’s 14, she shouldn’t be having nightmares like some scared little kid. Especially not ones about graveyards and monsters and fights. "It just seemed so real, mom."

“I know, honey, but they’re not real. There aren’t any monsters coming up out of the ground.” Joyce assures her in a soft voice as she gives her a half hug. Buffy leans into it, closing her eyes and making sure not to look at the bed across from her. She’s pretty sure she might get all teary if she sees  _ Dawn _ worrying about her. 

"I know they aren't! Vampires and, and, fangy people and all that, I know it’s not real! It's just..." She trails off, trying to replicate the movements she saw in her dream with her arm. She could do them far too easily, she realizes with a start. This is way too wiggy.

“Do you feel up to going to school or —“

"I'd like to try to sleep a bit more, can I stay home today?” 

“Of course. How about I make you some breakfast in bed?” Joyce glances at her arm and shakes her head a little, biting her lip as though a familiar but unwanted scent had gone past her nose. Buffy grimaces a little, lips twisting. Fangy. Why does it feel like a deja vu? “We can have that nice neighbor boy bring over your homework, that one whose in most of your classes.”

"The librarian's son? Mom! Will is a weirdo!"

She goes down to prepare breakfast and comes back, with a little tray. Dawnie is still sleeping, as if nothing had happened. Joyce sits at the corner of Buffy’s bed.

“Well, Will seems like a nice boy to me. He’s always so polite. He reminds me of your friend Willow.”

"Willow doesn't like me. She says cheerleaders are shallow." She sips her tea, still feeling restless. Buffy closes her eyes and tries to see something besides graves. Hell, she’d settle just for one that wasn’t that same shade of grey. "I keep seeing graveyards in my dreams."

“Then I think Willow is being the one a bit narrow-minded and shallow, judging people by their hobbies.” Joyce shakes her head a bit, biting her lip. “Do you think you’re remembering when your grandma died?”

"I didn't have to fight grandma to the death at night, so no. I remember her teeth being not that sharp."

“Oh. That’s... maybe we should go to the doctor.”

"And what, be told to watch less zombie movies?" She shakes her head and tries to smile weakly. "Probably is just the cheerleading test."

She tries to sleep again when her mother leaves. This time, she dreams her sister is a ball of energy. She also dreams about dying to protect her.

This time she doesn’t scream. Being in heaven feels good, after all.

She has half the urge to go poke Dawn when she wakes up, just to see what happens. She glances at a photo of them together on her nightstand. “You don’t look powerful to me.”

"Talking to pictures now? You're really a weirdo." Dawn looks at her from the other bed. She's at least grateful her mom decided to let them both stay at home.

Buffy sticks her tongue out at Dawn. Dawn, who is sitting there in her fluffy pink pajamas with her hair in messy braids. Dawn, who doesn’t look at all as if she could be made of energy, especially in the morning.

“Yeah, well, I had a... a weird dream. You were like... not a person in it.”

"Was I something cool? A centaur maybe?"

"That sounds boring. No, you were... a big ball of energy.“

“Are you doing drugs, Buffy?"

“What! Of course not, Dawnie!” Buffy crosses her arms and grabs her stuffed pig Mr. Gordo protectively. “Are you feeling okay?”

"I'm not the one who had to stay home because her fever is giving her nightmares."

“I’m not that kind of sick. I’m just anxious.” She throws her stuffed animal to Dawn, laughing. “Do you want me to play with your hair?”

Dawn nods, grinning brightly as she moves over on her bed to make room for Buffy. Buffy is halfway doing her head when Dawn suddenly blurts out something Buffy doesn’t expect. "Was I called a  _ key  _ in your dream?”

Buffy stiffens in the middle of making a braided bun, hands falling to her sides. How did Dawn know about this? Maybe she’d been talking in her sleep? Yes, that was the most likely explanation. “I... yeah, yeah, you were.”

"Then your dreams are contagious. Start dreaming prettier things, vampires are scary." She puts Buffy's hands in her hair again, humming softly.

“I... right. Did you notice anyone else we know in them? Like, certain babysitters you’ve had? Or people from school?”

"Babysitters? No, only vampires and being... light. It felt so weird."

“Oh, okay. Willow was in one of mine but older and... Witchier. Lots of makeup and cool hair and spells.”

"Willow? She can't be a witch. She needs to get a cat first." Dawn sounds sure of herself about that. She’s watched movies and read books, after all, and in most of them witches have at least one animal.

“I don’t think — maybe.” Buffy rolls her shoulders as she finishes the bun. “And Will was... different. He smoked. And his hair was very blonde.”

"Mr. Giles would kill him if he did."

Buffy snorts at that, imagining her classmate being pulled by his ear by a very angry librarian. “Probably. He’s way overprotective. Probably why Will is such a nerd.”

“I like Will. He tells me cool stories and has a nice accent.”

"Yes, and he still is a nerd." Buffy flops back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. "I'm tired of the nightmares."

“Me too! Maybe Mr. Giles knows how to get rid of them. He knows all kinds of stuff.”

"Yes, I could ask him." After seeing him train her last night, she's sure as hell she wants to avoid him. She’s tired of seeing him in her dreams, especially since all of them are violent. And having dreams and feelings about a librarian that’s even older than her mother is so, so weird.

“I heard mom say Will’s coming over in a little bit with your homework, we can ask his dad then.”

"Yeah, maybe. I'm not that concerned."

“You should be. You have to at least get C’s to be a cheerleader.“ Dawn pokes her playfully.

"And I'm getting better than that. Who are you, mom?"

“No, just her favorite.”

"In your dreams." 

Just staying home isn't helping Buffy, so she stretches a bit and goes for a walk. She’s... restless. Her head is full of images she can’t process. She doesn’t even like horror movies! There’s no way this is just her remembering them, so then... what is it?

When she looks around, she realizes she walked right into the graveyard, which is not the same one from her dreams but close enough. At least it's daytime and no heads are popping from the graves.

“Buffy, what are you doing here?”

She jumps with a bit of a yelp, adopting a defensive stance she didn’t know until a minute ago, until he realizes the one that spoke was the librarian, Mr. Giles. She slumps her shoulders, hoping he didn’t notice how she was just about to attack him. For a moment, she felt as if she knew exactly how to disarm whoever it was that was there.

"I... I was just walking. It's not my fault the town is so small."

“Of course, but it’s late. I-I’ll walk you home.”

"Why?"

“It’s not safe. Besides, Will brought homework for you.”

"I'm not sure for whom it is not safe." She mutters.

Giles raises an eyebrow and mutters something under his breath about her grammar. Buffy pouts at him as he walks her toward her house. Mr. Giles tries to pick conversations but they all die, so instead they fall into an awkward silence. Will is waiting by the door, all gold rimmed glasses and messy brown hair and green cardigan that’s slightly too big. Yes, definitely this Will doesn’t look like the one in her dreams, tall, peroxide blond cropped hair, menacing attitude. Pointy teeth.

Will smiles awkwardly at Buffy as she leads them inside her home.

“So, how was school?” She doesn’t actually want to know, but it’s better than all this silence.

“It was good! We actually talked a lot about Shelley in English, and I brought up turbolifts in Physics...”

"You what in where?" Sh’s only half listening. His father is looking at her too intensely for her taste. Something... she can feel something is different now, but she has no idea what.

“Oh, turbolifts from St... — never mind. Here are your assignments. Do you want to go over my notes too?”

"Oh, yeah, do you have any tips for the test? I could use some help in history too."

“Yeah, definitely. First I think we’ll be focusing more on line reading than author interpretation so...”

Will continues to ramble, and she is torn between boredom and thinking how passionate he is kind of cute. In a nerdy way, which is not what she usually finds endearing about boys, but … Still, she finds it hard to pay attention to what he's saying, especially with his father hovering. 

Finally she gets fed up, crossing her arms and shooting them both a sharp glare. "Mr Giles, why are you still here? Don’t you have any... librarian things to do?" She gives him a tight smile.

“Oh I just — I was waiting for Will to come back home for dinner.” Giles gives her an equally awkward smile, while Will flushes and gives his dad an utterly pained look.

"I guess he can't walk home alone?"

“Well, it would be silly since we’re both going there anyway. Quite a... a misuse of keys, when we can open the door, uhm, only once.”

She gets up and pointedly walks to the door and pulls it wide open, hoping they’ll take a hint and follow her. "Yes, I guess. Well, I think I understand everything. See you tomorrow at school?"

“Yeah - yeah, see you at school.” He watches her until she closes the door. Then he pulls at the edge of his sleeve and gives his father a betrayed look. “Dad!”

"What?"

“Why did you embarrass me in front of Buffy?” Will crosses his arms, scrunching his face up.

"I didn't! I-I really was waiting for you to go home for dinner."

She leans on the door, sighing. Again she wonders about them and her dreams. Something is wrong with Giles, she can tell. He seems off to her. And he’s too protective of his son and too interested in her. She hopes she doesn’t have any more dreams.

That night, she sees Willow with black hair, killing a boy and mourning Tara. She wakes up screaming.

She wakes up covered in sweat, shaking as she runs to the bathroom, feeling sick. She looks in the mirror and feels the tears on her face. She whispers at her reflection. “Buffy, What is happening to you?”

She grabs her phone and calls Tara until she hears her sleepy voice. Good thing she's too kind to get annoyed by a midnight call, even if it’s a call from someone who barely talks to her in school.

“Buffy? It’s late. I’ll help you with your homework tomorrow.” her voice is groggy and soft. Probably her phone ringing wasn’t a very welcomed sound.

"Oh, yes, sorry... I was trying to, um.... Call my uncle, he’s been, um, he hit a deer with his car, you know on the road. And I was worried. Similar names, got it wrong. Goodbye."

“Right, talk to you at school.” 

Buffy hangs up and collapses against the bed. Things will be okay. This is just... a teenage thing. Yes, that’s it. Teen hormones going to her head and making her act all wiggy. She guesses it’s better than acne.

She wakes up two more times in the night. In both her dreams Giles is there, training her, helping her, falling unconscious after a demon hurt him, protecting her from … other librarians that say they are watching her. And Will is biting someone in the neck.

Buffy is exhausted when she gets to school, trying to subtly nap at her desk, until she sees Willow. She approaches her suddenly, smile probably just a bit too wide. “Are you feeling okay?”

"... Yes? A bit of pollen allergies?" Willow scrunches her nose up, tilting her head to the left a bit. Why is she talking to her all of a sudden? She feels the need to make sure there’s nothing sticking on her nose or something like that. That’s the only reason Buffy might approach her. She scratches it just in case.

“I... right. Good, you know how this, um, time of year can get people down. Great job fighting demo... allergies! The dust demons, I mean.”

"Since when do you care about my allergies?" Willow blows her nose a bit. Yes, definitely she must have something on it.

“Just, you know. It’s umm. I’m doing a fundraiser! About allergy awareness. I’m asking people. The principal takes all this allergy stuff very seriously.”

"Eh... sure, I can... Answer your surveys if you want." Willow slowly walks away, one step from panic.

Buffy smiles awkwardly and then hurries away, nearly knocking Tara and Will over. Right. Just the two people she’d rather not see.

"Buffy, are you ok? I got worried when you called."

Buffy grins at them both, spreading her arms out in a way she hopes seems casual and cool and not like she hasn’t slept more than three hours. “I’m fine! Better than even!”

“You’re not still feeling sick from yesterday?” Will looks at her worried, frowning a bit as he leans forward to look more closely at her. His gaze is filled with concerned, glasses slipping down his nose a bit. It’s hard to imagine him squishing a bug, let alone being some scary fang guy.

"No, no, I feel great today. I must have gotten the same... Allergies Willow had. She gave them to me. But I’m allergy free now."

“That’s not how allergies work, pet.” Will says unthinkingly, shaking his head with a small smile.

"Pet?" She looks at him as if he had turned into a bug.

“I — British slang for... friend?” Will wrinkles his nose as he takes a step back, embarrassed and wishing he could turn invisible right about now. Of course he’d say something weird to Buffy. Again.

"Oh, yes, ok. So, physics next, right?"

“Yeah, yeah, we have physics. All three of us.” Tara gives him a look, soft but slightly worried. He doesn’t... usually use slang like that. He’s been trying to keep his accent from being noticeable ever since he moved to their town a couple years ago.

“Yes, right. Elements and all the sort. Not dead at all.” Buffy nods unthinkingly, giving herself a thumbs up as she walks ahead of them.

Tara looks at Buffy too, frowning a little as she considers things. Buffy’s been appearing in her dreams, and Tara’s a bit scared of them, especially by that one where she falls dead in front of Willow.

Buffy catches Tara’s curious look and tries to smile warmly. “C’mon guys, physics is the last class before lunch. Let’s go.”

In class, Tara lights her flask a bit too easily and Will stares at her, raising an eyebrow. He’s quite sure there’s nothing to ignite it around her. "How did you do that?”

“Huh? Oh, I just — it’s a quick switch. It’s new.” That, or a demonic possession. Probably the second one. She’s been noticing flames sort of... respond to her. It’s terrifying. 

Willow tilts her head towards her a little, excitement sparking her eyes as her flask gets full and all its contents spill onto the floor, right by Xander’s shoes. “That’s cool! I like it.”

Tara flushes a bit, giving Willow a nervous smile. She remembers she and Willow... No, that must have been a trick of her mind. Dreams are just dreams. Willow would never... she’s not... that can’t possibly be, right?

Willow catches her eyes and blushes, looking away before Tara can figure out if it’s because she likes her or maybe -

“Willow! My shoes!” Xander complains as the redhead tries desperately to clean up what keeps coming out from her flash, while Xander does a bit of a dance trying to get it off of him.

“It’s just a bit of... it’s just acid, it will only... melt your soles?” 

Tara glances back to find Buffy and Will walking side by side, both of them awkwardly looking away from each other as they grab more elements for their experiment.

"Do you believe in deja vu and... Premonitions, visions, anything?" Tara asks Willow in a low voice, glancing at her from the corner of her.

“Like magic? Actually, kind of, yeah. I did Xander’s whole natal chart a few months ago.” Willow says with a shy smile, holding her flask out and then putting it down at the last minute when Xander glares at her.

“I was thinking more of... demons, and dreams of the past.”

“Yes, that too. I dream about... it may sound dumb, but I dream of magic.” She smiles as she leans closer, conspiratorial smile on her face.

“No, it doesn’t sound dumb, believe me.”

After lunch, Buffy wanders around the school, and finds herself in front of the library. Which is not the same one as in her dreams, but they look enough alike that Buffy is getting serious deja vu.

Especially since Mr. Giles is expecting her already.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy has her first encounter with Giles. Will decides a punk look, bleached hair included, would certainly fit him.
> 
> \-----
> 
> _"I... What is it with stakes and vampires? I always tought it was kind of dumb. Do they turn into dust? Why would they?" She wrinkles her nose as she paces the room, shaking her head as she remembers all the time she got a mouthful of vampire residue in her face. Mostly Buffy wonders if anything she’s saying makes sense._
> 
> _“It’s because of the effect of not... Buffy. You remember.”_
> 
> _The fondness in his voice, the way he says her name... something feels so normal, so domestic about it. As if this encounter was something that already happened far too many times. Images of dozens of encounters in the library, weapons, training, books with gross illustrations all flash through her mind. She keeps pacing across the library, suddenly feeling angry._
> 
> _"What am I supposed to be remembering?"_
> 
> _“If it was up to me, nothing. But you were the slayer, and it-it seems the memories are coming back.”_

Buffy stands in front of Giles, not sure what she was expecting. Certainly not for him to have lots of old books in his arms and looking as if he knew she would come, but then somehow that feels familiar too. 

“B-Buffy, hello, I take it you’re here because of the dreams and not to check out a book?”

"I... What is it with stakes and vampires? I always tought it was kind of dumb. Do they turn into dust? Why would they?" She wrinkles her nose as she paces the room, shaking her head as she remembers all the time she got a mouthful of vampire residue in her face. Mostly Buffy wonders if anything she’s saying makes sense.

“It’s because of the effect of not... Buffy. You remember.” 

The fondness in his voice, the way he says her name... something feels so normal, so domestic about it. As if this encounter was something that already happened far too many times. Images of dozens of encounters in the library, weapons, training, books with gross illustrations all flash through her mind. She keeps pacing across the library, suddenly feeling angry.

"What am I supposed to be remembering?"

“If it was up to me, nothing. But you were the slayer, and it-it seems the memories are coming back.”

"Killing bad things in dark graveyards, right?"

“Yes, vampires and demons and other things...” Giles trails off and shakes his head, his eyes pained as he takes in the tiny figure that she cuts. She’s two years younger than the first time he met her, barely a child. This isn’t fair. “You’re so young. I thought we had more time.”

“What happened to me?” Buffy asks in a small voice, flexing her hands a few times nervously. Everything in her is confusing. Memories of far more years than she’s lived , of things she can’t possibly know, all try to reach her consciousness at once. 

"20 years ago you died, Buffy. You and all your friends."

She pales at that, suddenly feeling a chill run through her. Yes, she... she remembers, but still something inside her insists on rebelling against that notion. “I... I died? No way, I’d know if I...” Why does she try to deny it? Deep inside she knows the truth. She’s been dead before. More than once, even. “Did I die more than once?”

"How many times do you remember already?"

“Twice? Once I... I drowned? The master... he killed me. I’d never been so terrified in my life. And then the other time I... jumped into a beam of light so Dawnie wouldn’t? But being dead was not that bad, I think. I was... was I in heaven?”

Giles looks sad at that, biting his lip and not quite meeting her gaze. Yes, probably this time she was in heaven too, and he was selfish enough that he pulled her and all her friends out of it again. But it had been so hard on him. He’d been so alone, and they were all so young then...

He takes her hands but avoids her eyes when he talks again. "And then the final battle, where everybody but Angel and I died, Buffy. We had to dig you out of Hellmouth."

“Wait, Mr. Angel was what then, 13?” Buffy wrinkles her nose, trying to imagine him as some little kid instead of a broody adult. Somehow, the idea of her history teacher as a child, digging her out of whatever a hellmouth was,made her giggle. And yet... there are no memories of a young Angel in her mind. She can’t see him being Dawnie’s age. 

"More like 240, Buffy. Don't you remember him yet?"

“I remember he was around a lot, and he... oh my God!!”

Buffy scrunches her face up suddenly. Yes. Not a kid. Definitely he was not a kid when they kissed or when she stabbed him with a sword or, well, the rest is all fuzzy, but he always looked the same.

"I don't want to do it again." Her voice is a whisper as she feels her shoulders start to shake as the shock wears off and reality hits her. This is not a dream, and she has awoken to a nightmare she has already lived through. “I don’t want to slay, Giles.”

“I know. I didn’t want it either, I wanted you to have the normal life you couldn’t have last time. But the Watchers Council only agreed to save you all if you were still carrying your powers.” Giles closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath. “I thought it’s what you — or the older you — would have wanted. A normal life, a second chance for all of you.”

"Will is not your real son, is he?" Suddenly Buffy remembers him as a grown man, bleached hair, scary ... well sometimes, he was scary. Not always. His name is in the tip of her tongue, but she can’t quite pinpoint him in her memories, not yet.

“He is by adoption. But no, he wasn’t my son before. He was...”

"I don't remember him being one of my classmates." She frowns, not being able to put the pieces together. 

All of her - or the past her’s - memories are confusing, like they were part of an experimental film where time doesn’t go in a straight line. Sometimes they’re just teens, other times they’re older, broken to pieces by everything they’ve gone through. 

“He wasn’t. He was... a vampire. With a soul. Just like Angel.” Giles tries to look confident of that. It’s not a lie exactly. He got a soul by the end, and he has one now, after all.

The pieces finally come together in her mind. She knows who he was. Buffy stares at him, eyes wide and arms crossing. "Wait, you brought back  _ Spike _ ?"

“You remember him, then. He’s not, he’s not Spike anymore. He’s William now, the name he had as a human.”

"But he was. And... You decided just to somehow bring all of us back? How? Why?" Buffy swallows, trying to stay calm. She needs facts here. She doesn't remember a lot, but if there's something she knows, it's that things are never free. Sacrifices are always made when magic is involved, and most of the time, the ones that pay the price are the victims.

Giles takes off his glasses, carefully cleaning them as he thinks how to explain it. He knew the risks, the sheer stupidity of what they did. But it is hardly the first time he made a questionable gamble.

“We, um, we made a deal with the powers that be, Buffy. They needed to balance the world, and I wanted my children back. So did Angel.”

"You realize a 14 year old cheerleader is about to tell you you probably did something stupid and risky, right?"

He puts his glasses back, sighing softly as he furrows his brow. Yes, Buffy always was perceptive, and she always knew when someone was messing with the wrong things. “I’m aware of that. But I also didn’t think people barely out of childhood deserved to die. And Spike... he was good when he had a soul. Hell, he had some concept of love in the two years prior, which was, umm, unusual for a vampire. He never should have been turned in the first place. And he deserved a real chance to have a life.”

Gules swallows and looks away, not sure if he could explain it accurately. He’s too close to the situation. He can’t think of Spike the same way now that William is his son, each of his memories colored by the boy who was afraid of the dark until he was almost 12. 

Buffy walks around the books with a tight frown, looking at the illustrations. She remembers slaying some of those things in a life that is still so far away. "I still don't remember that part. I mostly remember punching him."

“Yes, well, he was rather punchable the majority of the time before he got a soul, and sometimes after it as well.”

Buffy suddenly stops pacing, her eyes widening with horror. Then she just stares at him. "Mom was dead."

Giles closes his eyes and shakes his head a bit. That was one of the trickiest parts of the deal they broke with the Powers. “She was. I argued that you wouldn’t have been the Slayer you were without her there to guide you.”

He's surprised when her expression changes and she starts crying silently, her hands shaking as she stares up at him in sudden horror. “I found her dead. I - I remember that.”

He gently takes her arm, face crumpling. “Buffy I thought -“

"Thanks for bringing her back." She sobs, suddenly hugging him tightly.

He hugs her back and sighs, tears slipping down his own face. He has so many regrets about that first time. He didn’t do enough for Buffy sometimes, he saw the danger too late. He failed his children. He let her fall apart time and time again. This time things will be different. “Of course. It was one of the things I insisted on.”

"This time we can't let her get sick. We have to tell her."

“No, no, that’s why she gets those check ups every few months.”

“You’re the mysterious donor?”

He smiles shyly at her, but there’s something proud in his voice. "I-I may have decided to change things a bit, now that I know how they were the last time. The powers don’t quite need to, to know everything, do they."

“Right. Anything else different I should know about? What about the others — did you get Willow and Xander better parents?” She scrunches up her face, flashes of indifferent parents and even verbal cruelty flashing through her mind. Of nights spent with her friends at home because they were terrified of the things that lurked outside and parents not even noticing when they came back home hurt.

"I'm not sure they are much better, but they are, yes. We had to find them all families."

Buffy starts pacing, her mind racing with all the things she remembers, all the things she wants to correct this time.

“Good, good. And Tara doesn't think she’s a demon, so I guess that’s a big step up. Or at least she doesn’t seem to think she is, though I think she made a bit of a fire this morning.”

"She doesn't know she's a witch yet."

“No, neither does Willow. She doesn’t even like me.” Buffy pouts at that, feeling hurt rush through her. Willow is - or was - her best friend. Now they’re almost strangers.

"You didn't like her either until you started with your dreams, I imagine."

“Well, no. But she said cheerleaders were shallow! I’m not shallow, I have layers. Like a, a sweater set.”

"I won't even comment on how good it'd be for your metaphors to read some books."

She leans on the pile of books, pouting again. She’s quite sure her pout was useful last time with Giles, so it’s worth trying to give it a try. “Are you gonna make me study again on patrol?”

"It wouldn't hurt you, would it."

“Ugh, I guess not. But what if I get distracted and bam! Willow is a vampire?”

In fact, wasn’t Willow a vampire? Or another Willow? A vampire Willow that flirted with normal Willow? Her head spins and she grabs the edge of her desk. This is all too weird.

"I think she can stand her ground enough for you to study."

“Fine, Fine. So what about Will? Is he... what will happen with him?”

"With any luck, he'll have the life that he didn't last time."

She tries to remember. Something... there’s something about Spike... no, Will, in her mind, she’s sure of it. Wasn’t it in a dream too? “He was a poet and he liked science and astronomy before he got turned. He told me once, after he got his soul... I think.”

"And this time I plan on making him keep being one."

“What else do you remember about- about Will? Spike?”

“Will? Well, first he was scary and, like, big time bad, and then annoying, and then I kind of liked him, I think, but I didn’t trust him, then he was scary, again, and... then I finally trusted him but he died? And he had something in his brain.”

Giles swallows tightly, not quite meeting her eyes in a way that makes her sure everything she said was true. He can’t erase what he was when he was a demon, but he can certainly make sure that things will be different this time. "You had a complicated relationship."

“Yeah, I guess. Will, does he remember being... Spike?” Buffy rolls her eyes at the nickname, even as she frowns tightly. Will doesn’t deserve to remember being all soulless and evil. Somehow she knows how hard that can be on them when they get their soul back, even if she has no idea how she can know that.

"Not yet, and I'd like him to stay like that as long as possible. The memories won't be pleasant for him."

“Well, they’re not exactly pleasant for me either. So what, I died, came back as a 14 year old, and suddenly the powers that whatever want me killing vampires again?”

Giles sighs and rolls his eyes. "No, you came back as a baby 5 years after the battle. Really, Buffy, this should be easy math. The battle was almost 20 years ago, you’re all around 14, so the logical conclusion should be that y-you came back as newborns and grew normally."

“Watch it Giles, you might be my watcher and you might have been like a dad to me last life- well, lives, but right now you’re also just a weird stranger holding a stake.”

She gives him a lopsided smile. She knows she could, and in fact has, disarmed him easily in the past, and now he’s 20 years older.

"You watch it too, since I'm the only reason you haven't been taken by the other watchers as a child. Things have certainly changed since last time you were an adult."

“Taken? What, was I so bad the watchers raise the slayers from birth now? Wow, I really know how to make an impression.”

Giles shakes his head, closing his eyes as a sense of despair runs through him. Buffy has no idea how bad things were after she died. How the town, or rather the space the town used to occupy , looked like when the battle was over. If she has nightmares about a life she barely remembers, his are about a time he can’t forget.

"All the other Slayers died, Buffy. Everybody died in that battle. You're one of the last ones, and they feared you'd be as rebellious as the last time. We... Angel and I, we had to negotiate several things to keep you here once you were back to life."

During lunch,Tara plays with making a small flame appear and disappear under the table, barely paying attention to Will as he rambles about a series he just started watching to a very interested Willow. She wonders if she's the only witch in school. Or if she’s a witch at all. She could very well be a demon, or possessed by something. Or maybe she’s just going mad.

“Nice flame there, pet. Think you could teach me to do something like that?” Will asks with a grin as he watches it under the table.

Tara jumps at that, giving him a small, anxious smile. "Yes, you, ehh, get a pocket lighter and that's it." She doesn't sound very convinced. Why should she, anyway, considering she’s not even sure what she’s doing. Something inside her just pushes her to try the limits of whatever this is, to experiment, see what else she can conjure.

“Oh, right then. I’m out, then. Dad never lets me near a lighter or anything else dangerous for that matter. Says I’m too impulsive.”

"You? I had to insist for two weeks for you to submit a poem to the school literary magazine, Will." She smiles softly, but still her eyes seem to be far away. In her dreams... she remembers him being older, menacing, talkative... Not quite human.

“I know! Makes no bloody sense.” Will sighs as he shakes his head, running a hand through his messy curls. “He’s just overprotective. Might have to scare some sense into him.”

"No, don't scare Mr. Giles! I'm sure he has her reasons." Willow looks at him nervously, biting her lip. She really likes the librarian.

“Willow, he’s my dad. It’s my job to scare him. Besides, I’m just gonna get some new clothes. Feel like the ones I have don’t fit me.”

"You don't look that much taller. I- I mean, I’m not saying you’re short Will, only that... well, you haven’t got that much taller lately."

“No, I mean - I just feel like I need a new look.” Will sighs as he leans back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head. Willow doesn’t understand anything about aesthetics and about looking cool.

"What's wrong with your look? I think it's quite nice. Comfy and warm and, and fuzzy. I like how your sweater has little animals." She smiles awkwardly, glancing at the tiny dogs on his sleeves with a spark in her eyes. 

“I don’t want to look nice, I want to look...” Will thinks for a moment and then nods to himself, grinning a bit. “Tough.”

Willow snorts before she can stop herself and covers her mouth, embarrassed. “Sorry.”

"I could go with you." Offers Tara quietly as she leans in, her gaze more encouraging. If Will wants to look tough, she guesses she can at least try and help. 

Will glares at Willow and then turns and smiles warmly at Tara. “Thank you, Tara.”

Will texts her under the table, shooting her a pointed look as he raises an eyebrow. “ _ And maybe we could get you something to wear that Willow here will like. _ ”

Tara smiles softly at him and nods, getting a bit red.

“So, as I was saying, I think I’d look great with a... punk look. Black trench coat, bleached hair, and contacts. No more glasses for the new Will.”

Buffy sighs. This is all so weird. She paces the library, scrunched up expression as she tries to get all her memories in order.

“So, I was an adult, then came back as a baby, now on my way back to being an adult again and trying to remember all that? Do I really have to go over all the hormone stuff again?”

He starts rummaging through his books until he finds something. He smiles softly . "Here. Willow started this photo book, And I ended up finishing it for, umm, sentimental reasons. I think it may help you. Some of those in the photos were not brought back."

Buffy looks at the first photo set, herself a bit older than she is now sitting and smiling with Willow and Xander, and a girl she doesn’t recognize, who's rolling her eyes and smiling as though she doesn’t want to admit she’s happy to be there, as is she didn’t have an arm around Xander’s waist.

"Who is she? Did she die too?"

“She... that’s Cordelia. We’re not exactly sure what happened to her. We attempted to bring her back as well, but she... she died in a different place than the others, she died a bit later.” Giles swallows tightly and takes his glasses off. When the babies were delivered to him, she was not with them.

"Will and Tara are not there either. I guess Spike wasn’t part of the team yet."

She remembers him being part of the gang … well, kind of … at some point, but when? And there were others, she’s sure of that. Some stayed for years, others left pretty quickly. Not all of them left because they wanted to, because being friends with them and alive seemed to be hard to balance.

“No, no, they’ll, umm, show up later in the book. It’s chronological.”

"Who is this boy?" She points at a blonde boy, apparently Willow's boyfriend since he's sitting next to her and staring at her like she hung the sun. "I thought she didn't date boys."

“She dated, ah, umm, boys and girls, and that was Oz. He was her boyfriend then.” Giles rubs his eyes and turns to the next photo. He has no idea what has become of Oz. He lost track of him years ago. “Here is us, umm, when you were starting college.”

"I look sad."

She feels she should feel more creeped out than she is. Knowing how she’ll look, how she died...

“Ah, yes. Your close friend had just... moved and you broke up with your, your, high school boyfriend.”

"Angel? I remember we... Ugh, I dated Angel?"

Giles closes his eyes and takes a step back, pinching his nose. “The two of you were umm, yes. You were involved for a time.”

"He didn't age after all. I guess it really was impossible." She turns the page, voice strangely detached, and sees Tara for the first time.

Buffy stops and runs a hand over her face. She’s sitting next to Willow in that photo, the red headed girl smiling nervously as she clings to the other girl’s side. “So everyone’s here. Well... almost everyone.”

"Will may be hard to recognize but I believe he's there, in the last pages."

She keeps looking, trying not to think about what moment is the moment there won’t be no more photos of her mom, of Angel, of all the people who left.

“Oh... I... oh. He’s... taller. And wearing a lot of leather. Like wow, Spike really tried to look cool. A bit too much. Nobody told him to loosen up a bit?”

"I fear he's always been trying to look cooler than he actually is. Don't tell him I said that."

She smiles at that. “I won’t. And I... I remember that. Kind of. Dawnie’s here too now. She’s older than me there. That’s... that’s so weird.”

"You all were older, Buffy. It was... it was hard watching you grow up from scratch, knowing one day you may be called. Every day I feared you’d have to wake up."

He’d been trying to contain all the threats with Angel, trying to prove the slayer was not needed, but every day things got harder and harder, and some years ago he had just resigned himself to the fact that Buffy needed him closer rather than as far away as possible.

“Is that why you didn’t come here until I was in sixth grade?“ she asks as she raises an eyebrow. “Will... he wasn’t your son last time, that much is obvious. He was... still related to Angel, I think?”

"Angel made him, but now Will thinks he's his brother. It was the easiest way, to make it look like we three are a family."

“... made him? Like, he’s his dad?”

"In a vampire way, yes. He was his sire."

Buffy suddenly starts laughing and Giles frowns.

"I’m afraid I fail to see what's so funny, Buffy."

“I just. Everyone is... it’s so weird! Next you’re going to tell me that I had a twin I never knew about.” Buffy flips back a few pages. “Or is that who this brunette with the attitude is?”

They are back to back, smiling and holding their stakes as they make a dumb sign to the camera. She feels a kinship to that girl, even if her name is not yet coming to her mind.

"No, that... that's Faith. We don't even know if she's still alive. She was a slayer too, and your type never gets to be old."

“Oh.” Buffy slowly stops laughing, wincing as she lays her hand flat against the table. “That’s... not good. Really not good, Giles. You didn’t even look for her?”

"If she survived, clearly she didn't want to have anything else to do with us. She, umm, she always followed her own path, it was impossible to track her back.” He steps back, feeling a stab of guilt deep in his chest. “That’s the book. We wanted to remember the journey we all took with each other. I found it when we cleared the rubble.”

"Willow doesn't seem to remember this. I'm not... Tara isn't in the last photos, I don't think she wants to remember that."

“I... no. Tara... Tara passed away a few months before the final battle. Willow was devastated.”

"How?"

She feels she somehow has the information inside her head, only she can’t access. It’s all confusing, her own death mixed with the deaths of so many people she failed to save.

“A man named Warren who wanted revenge on you... he shot her.” Giles closes his eyes and takes a sharp breath. “A lost bullet.”

"He shot me, too. Willow saved me."

“Yes, yes, that’s right.”

She gets pensive for some seconds, frowning even if her tone is calm. “Then she flayed his skin off, I think.”

"Well, yes, but, uhm, you need to understand, she was... things were hard, Buffy. She was not herself."

She shakes her head. Yes, she seems to remember the last few years were bad. Everything was bad after her mother died. “I... I remember. I wasn’t doing so well that year myself either. Bad year. Real bad year for everyone actually.”

"Your last years... those were so sad, Buffy."

“I... I remember. I mean, not the details, but the general mood. And the mood was bad. Like, real bad. Mega bad even.”

"Be glad you don't remember the details."

“Trust me, I am. So is Angel still, well, grr?” She makes a dramatic gesture as if she was turning into a vampire.

"So articulate. Poets listen to you and weep, Buffy." He looks at her with fondness. "Yes, he's the same old Angel."

“Good, good. Or... bad, I guess, since he... but... the sun?”

Giles and Angel stayed in the ruins for several years, first digging their friends so they could have something to bind their souls to, then trying to get the valuable things they had accumulated there while they lived there.

"We managed to salvage something from the magic store. A jewel."

“Oh! I remember. It was a ring — it’s that ring he wears. I knew it couldn’t be a class ring, it’s way too nice.”

"Yes, that. So... ready to start training again? I believe you're 20 years due."

She adopts a fight stance, smiling. It’s not as if she misses the training... is it?

“Then we better get started. You’re not exactly getting any younger.”

"Now you've done it, young lady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so many things to set up in this chapter! As always, comments and kudos are very welcomed, and prompt us to keep writing :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang memories keep resurfacing as Buffy starts slaying, and... is there a vampire woman stalking Will?
> 
> _Will had heard about strange people hanging around the graveyard. He’d been curious about them for a long time, and also thought it would be good material for poetry. After all, what kind of curious poet wasn’t up for a little graveyard stroll from time to time?_
> 
> _“See, Tara? Calm and silent. Great for poetry, pet.”_
> 
> _“I don’t know, Will. There’s a group of people there.”_
> 
> _Buffy hears their voices and curses. Really. Can't he go somewhere else, like... The literature club, or something? Just tonight, when the local vampires seem to be hanging around, ready to be slayed?_

Will comes out from the changing room and models his black jeans, black combat boots, and black t-shirt for Tara. If some of those are a bit loose, he’s sure he’ll grow into them soon enough. After all, both his father and brother are tall, so it stands to reason he will be too in a few years. Hopefully.

"Will, don't you think that is too much?" Tara raises her eyebrows as he hits a wall, his peripheral vision apparently shot because of walking without his glasses.

Will glances at the mirror and then smirks widely when he takes in his reflection. It’s... kinda blurry without his glasses, but he thinks he looks rather good. “Actually, I don’t think it’s enough yet. Aye, do they have any eyeliner?”

"Your dad will die if you go home like that. Or kill you." She passes him her only makeup though. Tara bites her lip, shaking her head and hiding a smile behind her hand. “We can go buy one for you later.”

“That he will. Old man could use some shocking.” Will grins as he applies the eyeliner in the mirror. “There is a whole new William Giles in town now, Tara.”

"But why now, Will? Here, let me.” She cleans the smudged eyeliner and helps correct it, feeling her ears burn as the shopkeeper glances at them. They really shouldn’t be doing this here. They could get in trouble.

“Try this, pet.”

She looks at the dress he passes her and decides that no, she won't even try getting inside that. If there’s even an... inside, in that thing.

“We’re teenagers, Tara! We’re supposed to be rebellious. Besides, lately I keep having these... thoughts. Almost like colors, but it’s all black and red velvet.”

Tara glances at another dress. At least it looks a bit more like clothing and less like … whatever that thing was. But... no, black and leather certainly is not for her. 

"Like... like me and my flame? I don't want Willow knowing about it yet, or about my dreams. She'll think I'm a freak, Will." Tara glances at another dress, light blue with a flower pattern. That isn’t so bad. She wonders if perhaps there's a model with a bit more fabric. Like 5 more inches of fabric.

“Yeah, like you and the flame. Except mine’s a bit more... bloody. Think there was a girl or two.” He sighs and grabs her a longer dress, resigned to have to use his glasses if he plans on  _ seeing _ what he’s looking at.

"You remember them? I can't remember people, only... only how to do flames, or make things fly. Yesterday I made the kettle explode by mistake. I remember sparks, and, and... fear. Someone hurt me."

“Not really. Just a vague image. A... bird all in black and red silk and a blonde with a stick.”

"A stick? Will, you're not doing drugs, are you?"

Stick sounds a lot like  _ stake  _ in her mind, though, and why is that word even there? Again, she feels like something is lurking in the back of her mind, trying to get out, to be remembered, feared...

“No! Though smoking does look cool and-“ 

Tara gently whacks his shoulder, her hair falling in her eyes as she shakes her head. "Will, don't."

He laughs and takes out his card to pay. Yes, this looks punk enough. Now the only things he needs are contacts and... growing a bit so he has more of an edge, like Angel. “Fine, fine. Anywhere else you wanna go? Don’t got to be home for an hour. Told the old man we’d be studying.”

“We could see if there are, um... longer dresses for me?" She glances at a store across the way, filled with long skirts and floral designs. There are flowers in the window too. That is more her style. “Sure, sure. That store looks a bit less... punk.”

“Witchy for you, then?”

He shakes his head. Where did that come from?

"Buffy, for the last time, you don't need special clothes to kill vampires."

When Giles said he wanted to train her and help her get back into slaying shape, this is not what he had in mind. He imagined weapons, books, not... a lot of shopping bags on his arms and a teen that’s not even his own daughter destroying his credit card. Then again, Buffy always had her way with him, and he certainly feels enough guilt to feel to let her get her way this time.

“I want to look cute but functional. You can’t slay in cute dresses or shoes. And I remember how many shoes I ruined, Giles.”

"Yet I think it's not so much about how you look, but how much you can make me pay for it." He smiles warmly at her though, and nods with resignation as the cashier asks him if his daughter will be buying the earrings too.

“And you will because I’m your favorite Slayer?”

"I have not missed having you as a teenager, you know?"

Buffy grins mischievously, picking up her latest bag. That’s probably enough for now. Giles couldn’t be as rich as his last life, with the council furious at him and a son to raise. “But you have missed me? So... what should I do now? sneak at night and kill some monsters at the graveyard?" Buffy glances at the stake she’s carrying in her purse. She doesn’t think she missed it.

“I - well, yes actually.” Giles is a bit flustered, blinking owlishly. It’s strange, having this new Buffy who remembers some things and not oithers. “After we work on training for a few weeks.”

Her shocked face is almost hilarious. "What? wasn't I supposed to just be strong and all that? I can train by going to the graveyard. Been there, done that, only got a t-shirt before, Giles!"

He tries to take off his glasses and clean them, but it is quite impossible to do with all the bags he’s carrying. He really wonders how Buffy will explain to her mother the sudden influx of new clothes, but then again, keeping track of her wardrobe was never easy. “Um, yes, but fighting techniques and mastering weaponry isn’t a bad idea. I don’t want you to... I want you to be prepared.”

"I'm sure I'll just remember everything. And I feel like some memories really make me want to punch whatever I have in front of me. Oh, the headache." Why can’t monsters ever be friendly or interesting or at least pretty? No, they were always pounchable. And the smell for most of them. Had demons never heard of baths?

She takes the bags and gives him a look, as if daring him for a fight. She remembers overpowering him more than once. Why had he even tried? Did he like the pain or what? 

“Buffy -“ but she already ran ahead of him. “Not tonight at least! I have to be home for dinner. I promised it to Will!”

"Then go have fun, Giles!"

Giles sighs heavily, shaking his head as he turns toward the other way out of the mall He makes his way home as she leaves him alone with a depleted bank account. He’d forgotten how it was, having her with her innocence and cheerfulness. Last times had been so gloomy at the end, and so much of her shine had been lost to tragedy. He hopes this time things will be different. Tonight at least he can help William with his math homework, and hope his life will be as it was supposed to.

When he enters Tara is finishing Will's makeup, eyeliner a familiar black. In fact, all of his clothes were black, all ripped jeans and what he suspects is actually pleather. Just like Spike. His curls are still light brown, but something tells Giles they won’t stay like that for too long.

Giles stares blankly at him for a moment, still taking in the combat boots and all black outfit and eyeliner. And to think he thought Buffy was his only problem. How naive of him. “Will, son... um, trying a new look out?”

"Any problems with tha’?" Will tries to give him a defiant glare, but the way he narrows his eyes tells him he probably can’t quite focus on his face.

“No, no, just, um, surprised, that’s all. You usually dress more... colorfully.”

"Yeah, well, I decided not to let you buy me clothes anymore. Wanna look tough and all."

Oh, he had not missed having them as young kids. Not that Spike had ever been one, but then vampires aren’t so different in some ways. "First Buffy, now you. You teens will be the end of me."

“Why would you be buying Buffy clothes?” Will wrinkles up his nose at him. Was this his dad’s weird way of helping him with his crush? Or was he trying to date Buffy’s mum? He tries to focus on his father, searching for clues. Probably the latter, since he can’t imagine his dad being perceptive enough to realize he’s interested in girls already.

"No, no, she... she's been sneaking around the library. Very annoying. I don’t think she was even intending to check out a book."

“Oh that sounds more like Buff then. Probably trying to go through the back door.” Will says it derisively, but anyone can hear the slight romantic quality of his voice. Giles can’t help thinking how different his son is to Spike and how much he hopes it’ll stay that way, even if his most rational part tells him it won’t. If Buffy was called, the chances the rest of the gang won’t be are so slim they are not even worth contemplating. Still, Will’s soul is still in place, and this time they can protect it.

"Yes, well, she could sneak around other places. Messed all my books."

“Maybe she could, yeah. God knows it’s not like she reads.” Will tries to shake his head only to be stopped gently by Tara.

“Move your head and you’ll have panda makeup.” Tara snorts a bit and finishes his eye makeup. She gives an approving nod. “There, do you feel tough now?”

"I don't know, why don't we go roam the graveyard, T?"

“Why would you do that?” Giles' voice rises with alarm, eyes wide as he stares at his son. Are his memories returning already? He hoped to have more time to talk about this with Angel. This is no good.

"Because it's a calm place. The neighbors are all very quiet." He laughs at his own joke and Giles wonders if his poetry is as bad as his puns. No wonder he was regarded as a terrible poet when he was alive last time.

Giles stands up and glares at his son, hoping he looks imposing enough to get Will to stop all the Spike vibe he’s emanating more and more. Yes, definitely they are running out of time here.

“Well, maybe some other time. I believe you and Tara have a math test on Friday, and I don’t think you’re prepared for it.”

"It's Monday, dad."

“Yes, bu-but studying can never start too early. Here I'll make you both hot chocolate - with marshmallows.”

Will tries to glare at him, but all he manages to do is to make the room even more blurry. Yeah, definitely, next step will be getting contacts. "Dad, why are you so concerned by me going out all of a sudden?"

“I just want to spend more time with my son. Is that so strange?”

The way Will looks at him tells him he’s not any better at making up excuses than he was 20 years ago.

"Suspicious, more likely. Come on, Tara, just a small walk."

“Fine, but I expect you home for dinner, Will.” 

At least this means he’ll be able to call Angel instead of simply texting him. If the kids are regaining memories of their past life, he needs Angel on the streets, protecting them. In the last 20 years they’ve fought a lot of monsters and some worse humans, so if they are waking up, it means they may be way out of their league this time. Something big is coming for them.

“Be back by 8, dad.” Will waves with one hand as they walk out the door.

The moment the door closes, Giles calls Buffy. He knows she won’t take his advice about taking the first nights easy, so at least he wants her to be warned. He won’t have Will seeing her slay or her getting distracted by her friends and ending up bitten. "Will must not see you slay, Buffy."

“Why? He’s not all fangy anymore. Is he?”

"I'd rather not have him remember when he was... fangy."

“Okay, okay, avoiding Will then. Anything else I should watch out for? Mantis demons, evil dolls?”

"Tara is with him. I'd prefer not to have her trying out her magic yet either."

“Fair enough. Any clue who the head vamp in town here is?”

"Not for now, no, but you should first hone your skills anyway."

“Right, right. I’ll take on the baby vamps first. Storm the fang club later. See ya.”

Giles is already regretting leaving England.

Will had heard about strange people hanging around the graveyard. He’d been curious about them for a long time, and also thought it would be good material for poetry. After all, what kind of curious poet wasn’t up for a little graveyard stroll from time to time?

“See, Tara? Calm and silent. Great for poetry, pet.”

“I don’t know, Will. There’s a group of people there.”

Buffy hears their voices and curses. Really. Can't he go somewhere else, like... The literature club, or something? Just tonight, when the local vampires seem to be hanging around, ready to be slayed? 

Will smirks a bit as approaches the group of people. They’re odd ducks, clothes old fashioned but all in shades of black and red. Cool people, undoubtedly. That or LARPers, but hey, he’d always wanted to try that too.

Tara frowns at them, something gnawing in the pit of her stomach. Something about them is putting her on edge. “I don’t know about this, Will.”

"Why not? They seem like they might be goth, and those kind of blokes certainly like poetry."

Buffy feels just like screaming. Her first night out. Couldn’t he wait at least a few days, let her warm up, get the rumor going around that there’s a new slayer in town? She hasn’t even seen if these boots are any good at kicking monsters yet!

Will starts walking over, trying to look confident and not like some dumb kid going up to a bunch of adults. “Oi, this some kind of a party, fellas?”

They turn and look at him, strange, ridged faces and fangs. One of them chuckles, while the others just stare. Four, five six, Buffy counts. They don’t seem like the smart, hard to kill and world-ending-plotter vampires, just regular fresh out of the grave ones. Still, more than she wanted, and more than Will should be seeing, at any rate. Giles is so going to give her a lecture.

Tara grabs his arm, scared, as one approaches them. "Will, I don't... I don't think those are fake fangs."

“Tara, don’t be daft, it’s just makeup. Goths love dressing up.” Will splutters, but the confidence he has before is gone and replaced with his nervous, posh accent he’d recently been trying to get rid of. He backs off slowly. “Don’ mean to interrupt, loves. Carry on, we are just... grave watching. Beautiful graves ‘round here.”

Buffy wonders if throwing a stick at their direction, as if they were dogs, would help. Probably not, and Giles will be even more upset. His 5 minutes lecture about not letting Will get in danger turns into a 10 minutes one in her head as she almost hears him telling her his son is not a dog of some kind.

“Oh, and who are you, little one?” A melodic voice rings out as a dark haired woman in red velvet comes forward, smiling - and then her eyes widened. Her face, it is so familiar to Will. He remembers... weakness, then strength again, dolls, madness, visions. Her making him die of jealousy. “Oh, the stars know you.”

"Will! Oh, enjoying the night? Very calm and, and grave-y here in the graveyard, isn’t it?" Buffy appears from behind and the vampires scatter. 

“Take it those aren’t friends of yours?” Will asks as he tries to regain his tough guy accent and nonchalance. Tara rolls her eyes and elbows him.

When he turns back, Drusilla is nowhere to be seen.

Buffy smirks as she comes over to them, shaking her head. “Renaissance Faire Goth isn’t exactly my style. I prefer cool blonde on the cheerleading team.”

He crosses his arms, scowling a bit. Something about that woman... he really wishes Buffy hadn't interrupted them. "Then why are you here, Buff?"

"I was taking a shortcut to... the ice cream shop. Which is over there, like... 50 graves away, and then round the corner, and, um, turning again. Do you want to come?"

"Yes, we'd love that." Tara looks at her with thankful eyes and whispers ‘ _ slayer _ ’ when she passes near her.

Buffy's eyes widen for a moment, but then she gives a small nod as she walks next to her. Will is looking very nervous now. She had not expected any less from Tara, especially after she’s seen her do magic when she thinks nobody’s watching. She knew she was doing it even before remembering she was the slayer. She also knows Tara died way before her, and she intends on protecting her whatever the cost this time.

Buffy takes the other girl’s arm and links theirs together, smiling. "So what were you two doing there anyway?

"Just taking a small walk before going back to have dinner with Will’s dad. He wants to help us study math."

"Oh, right, that makes sense. Guess you guys don't want ice cream then." Buffy grins awkwardly, twirling her hair around her finger. Her plan only got to the getting them away from the vampires part, and now she’s beginning to realize she may be going out with Spike - Will, he’s still Will, not Spike - to... have a snack? At least they are not alone, she guesses.

"Oh, oh, we... yes, we can go have ice cream." He gives one last glance to the place where the goths were and swears he sees twirling red skirts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are love!
> 
> We're going a bit slowly, even though we have the structure for dozens of chapters, but soon things will begin to get dire...

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are love! this is our first foray into Buffy's territory, so we hope you'll like it!


End file.
